PITTSBURGH _ The Twins on Wednesday stumbled across the best way to stay warm during April baseball: Run, preferably around the bases.
The snow flurries swirled, the wind howled and the temperature kept ratcheting down toward freezing and below. But the Twins kept the blood flowing by smacking nine hits, by stretching five of them into doubles, and by taking extra bases whenever possible. Perhaps it was no coincidence that Minnesota's go-ahead run was provided by a heavily garbed Miguel Sano, who slowed down, sped up and rumbled home from first base on a Logan Morrison double, putting the Twins ahead for good in a 7-3 victory at empty PNC Park.
Brian Dozier only got to trot around the bases after hooking a pitch inside the left-field foul pole in the third inning, his fourth home run in a five-game-old season. But he walked and moved up on an Ivan Nova wild pitch in the sixth inning, helping trigger the Twins' four-run uprising that handed 4-1 Pittsburgh its first loss of the season.
Dozier's walk and steal were followed by the night's Weather Channel highlight: A popup by Eddie Rosario into the snowy gale above home plate. Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli couldn't find it amid the flurries, and neither could first baseman Josh Bell. But when it fell to the turf in fair territory, Rosario hadn't moved, and was thrown out at first, with Dozier moving up.
That's when the Twins really began producing heat with their bats. Sano grounded a single past a drawn-in infield, scoring Dozier with one of his three hits on the night. Morrison followed by whistling a line drive into the right-field corner, sending Sano to third _ or so he thought. The Twins' slugger slowed as he approached third base, then spotted third-base coach Gene Glynn down the line, waving him home. Sano sped up and brushed the plate with his hand as he slid past, just ahead of Cervelli's tag.
After a pitching change, Eduardo Escobar kept the rally going with another double, scoring Morrison, and Byron Buxton laced a liner down the third-base line, scoring Escobar.
Rosario got into the extra-base act himself an inning later, racing home from first base on a single by Sano. But even more than the baserunning, more than the popup, Rosario's biggest moment of the game came on defense. In the fifth inning, with the Twins trailing 3-2, the left fielder picked up a Corey Dickerson line single on the run, wound up and nailed Gregory Polanco at the plate, ending the inning and keeping the score close.
All those runs made a winner of reliever Taylor Rogers, who pitched sleeveless on a night when the temperature started at 38 degrees and dropped from there.
Jake Odorizzi could not extend his streak of six shutout innings as a Twin, surrendering two first-inning runs on Josh Harrison's leadoff double and Josh Bell's 432-foot home run to center field. A pair of singles produced another Pirates run in the fourth inning, and after issuing back-to-back walks in the fifth, his night was done. But Rosario's throw saved him another run, and the Twins' bullpen was sharp, with Trevor Hildenberger pitching two scoreless innings, and Addison Reed and Fernando Rodney one apiece.
